Mushroom High: Rewritten, Revised, Rebetter
by AzoNintendo
Summary: Mario and Luigi are faced with the challenges of everyday high school life, along with some others only heroes have to conquer. Rewritten story from about three years ago, but it's barely recognizable anymore. Mario/Peach, one-sided Daisy/Mario, Luigi/Dai
1. Chapter 1

**It's been about two years since I posted my first story, the Mushroom High one, when I was 11. It received very good reviews. That was the fuel that kept me writing and helped my style develop. I just read over that particular story, and its sequel, and I swear, I could feel my brain die a little. Oh god. It was shit. Why I got good reviews I'll never know, but I _do_ want to rewrite it. So I am. IT'S MY STORY, DAMMIT.**

**I combined some of the chapters because they were short. The story will take much different turns, and be a bit more adult than the original. I probably got some of the information more accurate, since I'm actually out of elementary school now.  
**

Sunlight streamed through the blinds of the Mario Brothers' apartment. It shone on the clutter of their room, school supplies and various articles of clothing strewn about the floor. Two beds were on either side of the room.

One side held the younger, 16-year-old Luigi, tangled in his green bedspread. His side of the room held some posters of movies he'd seen and plays he'd been in, but not much else. On his nightstand, there sat a stack of books, his glasses, and an unknowingly broken alarm clock.

In the middle of the room, there seemed to be an invisible line where Luigi's space ended and Mario's began. The general color scheme changed from green to red. 17-year-old Mario snored away. The clock on his nightstand was unset, as he usually relied on Luigi's to wake him up. Video games littered the floor. There weren't many posters, just a few advertising his school's football and soccer teams.

As the light changed after a few minutes, it shined right into the eyes of the older brother, waking him up. He grunted, squinting, and almost rolled over and went back to sleep, but caught a glance at the clock. 6:47.

"Oh, shit!" He sprang up, grabbing a shirt that looked clean and a sock, but then dropped them both and lobbed a pillow at his little brother. "Luigi! Wake up!"

Luigi made a noise of protest, but Mario forced open one of his eyes and shoved the clock at his face. "Damn!" he exclaimed. Snatching his glasses, he scrambled for his book bag, throwing pencils and notebook paper into it. "Crap, crap, crap, why didn't I do this last night?!"

Mario picked up a shirt and a pair of pants. "What's up with your alarm?"

"It didn't go off, genius."

_"Yes, _I _realize _that," Mario said, stuffing a pair of boxers into his backpack, before realizing they didn't belong there and shoving them under his bed. "Man, I'm really out of it. I hate all the hours before 10:00."

"Hm," Luigi said vaguely, and when Mario looked up he was brushing his hair with so much concentration that his tongue stuck out.

Mario laughed. "God, you are such a _girl."_

Luigi grimaced. "What's wrong with wanting to look good?"

Mario put on his trademark 'M' hat and laced up his converses. "Well, why would you waste time brushing your hair when you can throw on a hat and be done with it?"

"We have had this conversation a total of..." He counted on his fingers. "... seven times, and neither of us have come closer to swaying the other. So, let's drop it."

Mario was about to retort, but caught sight of his clock. "Damn, we have to get going. The bus is going to be here soon."

* * *

They ran up to the bus stop just as it was pulling up to the sidewalk. The air brakes squealed as it stopped, and they hopped on, taking seats behind their best friends and favorite future princesses, Peach and Daisy.

Peach looked very official in her pink blouse and white skirt that reached her ankles. Her golden hair was pulled back in childish pigtails with a few hair clips holding them in place. Daisy sat next to her, wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt with a large school on the front that read, _Cheer up, it's only 6 hours long! _Freckles dotted her nose, matching her auburn hair. She was chatting with Peach animatedly about whether or not the school serving mashed potatoes was a good thing.

The brothers sat heavily, panting from their sprint to the bus. Peach turned around. "Hi!"

"Hey, guys," Daisy said, raising her hand briefly.

"God, I'm so _damn _nervous," Luigi said quickly, playing with the frames of his glasses. "What if I get put into a class with _Wally, _or... or, someone just as crappy?"

"Better hope ol' Wally himself didn't hear you call him that," Daisy warned, referring to Waluigi, their cousin, who could get quite violent if provoked.

"There are worse things to worry about," Mario reasoned. "I mean, Professor Gadd teaches junior science."

"Who's Professor Gadd?" Luigi asked while Peach frowned nervously.

Mario, however, laughed. "Ah, Professor Gadd. So many memories. Broken glass, poison, the wonderful interior of the nurse's office..."

Luigi looked simply horrified. Daisy mussed up his hair and said, "Poor little accident-prone Weege."

* * *

"Welcome, class, I hope you had a nice summer." E. Gadd was a short man with very few wisps of white, curly hair. He pushed his thick glasses farther up his nose. "I also hope you like your seats, as they will be your seats for the rest of the year."

Luigi looked cautiously over at his ridiculously tall cousin, Waluigi. Rest assured, if he ever slipped up and called him "Wally," he'd be in the nurse's office in ten seconds flat.

"Erm, hello," Luigi said meekly. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Waluigi grunted.

"So, how's life been?"

"Look, if you're gonna be all buddy-buddy, this is gonna be a long year for you," Waluigi warned, slamming his hand on the table.

Luigi nodded, staring in the opposite direction. This _was _going to be a long year.

He felt something tug his hair from behind. "Weege!" He turned to see Daisy's mile-wide smile. Hm, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

"English... 305... 305... Shit..."

Mario searched aimlessly for the correct room for his first period class, wondering how that particular room could have disappeared from last year. He watched the hands on his watch, and they seemed to be moving faster than normal. He bounded into the room just as the bell rang.

"Just on time, Mr. Mario," a middle-aged Toad wearing square glasses said. "Please take a seat." He gestured toward the rest of the room with a pencil.

Mario sat down next to Peach. "Hey," he greeted, throwing an English book onto his desk.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just about as much that was going on on the bus," he replied, shrugging.

"Ok, class, in case you don't know, I'm Mr. McRish," the teacher announced. "Your first writing assignment is to tell me the best thing that happened over the summer."

Mario stared at his paper, and felt his mind grow progressively blanker with each passing minute. What was the point of these assignments, anyway?

He managed to write, _Over the summer, I... _when Mr. McRish told everyone to put their pencils away. "I will not be grading these, but would someone please read theirs for the class?" He scanned the room. "Mr. Mario?"

He gulped. "Uh, I didn't really finish."

"Oh, okay." He looked vaguely disappointed. "Peach, then?"

Peach read her paper. Mario glared at her. She was such a goody-little-two-shoes.

* * *

Luigi was just appreciating his new found luck, when Prof. Gadd said, "Luigi, will you help me with a demonstration?"

He had no choice. "Okay." He walked up to the front of the class as Gadd set a beaker, a box of baking soda, a bottle of vinegar and a container of hot sauce on the table. He quickly mixed up the baking soda and hot sauce, then handed the vinegar to Luigi.

"Luigi, if you would, please add half of that bottle."

He poured it into the solution. It bubbled and fizzed, flowed over the sides of the beaker, and finally exploded. Luigi was knocked to the ground, and the first few rows were splattered with the disgusting mix.

"As you can see," Gadd explained. "the vinegar and baking soda have a chemical reaction, while the hot peppers and preservatives in the hot sauce can make the results rather explosive. Miss Daisy, would you please bring Luigi to the nurse's office?"

"Roger that," Daisy said, helping Luigi to his feet.

Out in the hallway, Luigi looked down at his burned arms. "God, Mario wasn't kidding, was he?"

"I kinda saw it coming," Daisy remarked, laughing. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He kept staring at his feet as they walked down the hall. Daisy had the special ability to silence him. In fact, he'd been smitten with her since about fourth grade, when they met. She had instantly become part of their group, and offered relief when things got sappy between Mario and Peach. Yeah, he felt like he loved her, but who could really tell in high school?

* * *

Mario dropped his tray on the table, splattering a bit of applesauce on Peach's blouse. She made a noise of disgust, grabbing a napkin. "God, you're such a pig."

"Love ya too." He picked up his fork and began to eat. "Weege, I'm not gonna be home until late."

"Why?" Luigi asked.

"Soccer, football, baseball and basketball tryouts are all today," he replied, tapping his spoon on his tray in an anxious manner.

"Woah, how do you expect to make it to all of them?" Daisy inquired, looking shocked.

Mario shrugged. "I dunno. It'll happen, though. You guys should try out, too."

"Nah, I'm only trying out for one thing." Luigi stretched his fingers out in front of him, smiling broadly. "Drama."

Mario and Daisy laughed loudly and cruelly. Daisy almost choked on her milk. Luigi glared incredulously at them.

Peach sighed. "I'm trying out for drama, too, Weege."

"Only girls and gays try out for drama," Mario informed them, still chuckling.

"That's not true!" Peach argued, appearing angrier by the second. "Drama Club needs guys every year, and they never come, so Luigi's being brave by trying out!"

"The only time Weege has ever been brave was when he killed a spider when he was seven."

"Mario, shut up!" Luigi said loudly. He looked very hurt. Grabbing his tray, he moved to a table on the opposite side of the cafeteria.

Peach was silent for a long moment, before picking up her tray, too, and going to join Luigi.

Mario shrugged. "Some people can't take a joke." Daisy nodded and ate her food in silence.

* * *

Luigi and Daisy somehow ended up in the same class again in 7th period, math class. They worked on their problems, Daisy still feeling guilty about lunch. But, after a few minutes, they were talking and laughing like they were in grade school again.

"Wanna check answers?" Luigi asked her, holding up his paper.

"I'm not done yet," she replied, struggling through yet another problem.

Luigi looked over her shoulder. "You're doing it wrong."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that."

"Carry the one, and check your multiplication," he instructed, pointing at her errors.

"Oh," Daisy said, raising her eyebrows. "The only problem now is that I have to go back and do all the other ones over."

Luigi chuckled, checking over the last few answers on his paper. He rubbed the lenses of his glasses on his shirt, frowning when one smudge didn't go away. "Damn. I scratched my glasses."

"Why don't you just get contacts?" Daisy asked, as she had seen Luigi scratch and crack his glasses many times before.

"I've had these since grade school. I don't really have the money for another appointment." He looked wistfully at his glasses for a moment, them put them back on and picked up his paper. "So, you done yet?"

"Nope, not yet, hold on a moment."

Luigi sat still for a few minutes, thinking hard. Daisy was his friend, but he'd always wanted something more. Would she really accept it if he asked her on a date? And, did he even have the nerve to ask?

"Erm... Daize?"

"Yup?" She was still engrossed in her math.

"I'm gonna be free tonight, so... did you want to... do something?" He could feel his face getting warmer.

"Like, you, me and Peach? Yeah, that sounds fun."

"No." There was no backing down now. "I thought it could be just you and me... like, a date?" He didn't mean to end his statement as a question, but that's what happened.

Daisy's head jerked up. "Oh!" She had bright pink patches on her cheeks. "Oh... well..."

Luigi bit his tongue in embarrassment. Of course she wouldn't want to. It had been stupid to ask. Why had he even-

"Yeah! Sure, that sounds good." Daisy went back to working on her math like nothing had happened.

All other thoughts fluttered from Luigi's mind. He was left with the one happy, blissful moment when Daisy said yes.

_She said yes!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Woah, a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. Everything is Nintendo's.**

Peach sat alone in her bedroom, thinking. Everything in her room was pink, from the floaty pink curtains to the clean pink carpet beneath her feet. The room itself was basically a giant pink blot. She was curled up on the pink bedspread, hugging a pink pillow and staring at the pink wall.

She laughed in spite of herself. "Well, that was a crappy first day."

And it was. She didn't _hate _Mario, but she did think he was a jerk. She was becoming fed up with how much he put down Luigi in front of them. It was just cruel to treat your sibling like that. And Daisy didn't help anything by laughing along with him. What was wrong with trying out for drama?

So what if Weege could be a bit... _flamboyant _at times. That didn't automatically label him as gay.

Maybe she just had to talk with Mario, straighten everything out... She liked being friends with him, that much was clear. But it couldn't go on like this.

She whipped out her pink laptop, typing in the address for the school website. Looking up the sports tryout times, she found that they ended at 7:00. A smile lit up her features. She would have to sneak out.

* * *

Daisy powdered her face, trying to hide any zits she had. It felt weird, to say the least, to be going on a date with Luigi. She had never really felt any attraction to him, found him awkward, and never thought she could be with someone like him. This was going to be quite strange.

She checked her purse one last time just as the doorbell rang. She walked down the stairs, finding Luigi standing in the living room wearing a full tuxedo. She had to stifle a laugh, but couldn't help smiling. "What's with...?"

He looked a little embarrassed, comparing his formal wear with Daisy's orange blouse and jean skirt. "Umm..."

Daisy laughed. "Let's go."

* * *

Peach clamored out of her window, somehow landing on the tree outside. She climbed down, her long nightgown hindering her greatly. With every passing second, the idea of sneaking out seemed more and more stupid. But, she had to do it. And besides, it was thrilling.

She dropped onto the ground, walking along the long, grassy field and following her bus route to the school. Finally, panting from running most of the way, the football field came into view, lit up in the darkness. A bunch of indistinguishable jocks ran around, passing the football. She couldn't tell which one was Mario.

Climbing up onto the stands, wrapping her jacket around her thin frame, she settled down for the ten or so minutes it would take for tryouts to end.

* * *

Luigi pulled up to the movie theater, silently cursing himself. A tuxedo? What voice in his head told him _that _was a good idea?

He jumped out of the car, running to the other side to open Daisy's door. He brought up his arm for Daisy to take, but she ignored it and walked about six inches away from him.

He cleared his throat. "So... what movie do you want to see?"

She bit her lip. "Hm... _The Happening _looks good." She sounded a bit detached.

Luigi felt a spasm of panic. He had heard that that particular movie was quite gory. But he kept quiet at the risk of driving Daisy away more, until they were seated. As the film wore on, Luigi jumping out of his skin at regular intervals, Daisy seemed more and more bored. Luigi tore his eyes away from the film to look at her a few times, wondering if he should try something. This date definitely wasn't going like he'd planned, so what if he screwed things up?

He couldn't keep himself from staring at her. She was very cute, something he would never have admitted when they'd met in fourth grade. He felt a desire to put his arm around her. Would it be wise to try the cliched yawn-and-put-arm-around-girl trick? Eh... maybe not. He could be more creative than that.

He swung his arm around her shoulders flamboyantly, trying to make a show of it, but ended up elbowing her in the nose. "Ouch!" She clutched her face in pain.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Daisy!" he whispered loudly, raising his hands in case he could help her.

Rummaging through her purse, she sighed. "I gotta go to the bathroom to get some tissues. Be right back."

Luigi waited, as he watched a girl on the screen stab herself in the neck with a knitting needle. But as the main character stole a car to escape the city, he noticed Daisy was still not back. As an old woman smashed her own face into a pane of glass, he was becoming more suspicious. When a man threw himself under a moving tractor, it became obvious that she was not returning.

He stood in disbelief, walking out of the theater. How could she stand him up?

* * *

Peach hopped down from the bleachers excitedly, wondering if the pillows she'd stuffed under her bedspread had fooled her parents. She felt frozen under her silky pajamas.

He saw a short, red-clad boy walking away from the field, and hurried after him. She touched his shoulder, and he whirled around.

"Peach?" he said, looking a little embarrassed. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk," she said defiantly, crossing her arms.

"What? Why?" He looked genuinely surprised and confused, which wasn't a surprise, since he made fun of people all the time. He probably wasn't expecting someone to call him out on it.

"Can you stop making fun of Luigi?" She couldn't think of much to say besides that.

Mario raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Peach felt a strong anger towards him, almost like she hated him. Maybe she did hate him! He was always so clueless of the damage he did to others, didn't care about anyone. "You know what I'm talking about! You keep calling him gay, and girly, and... Well, it's just a jerky thing to do."

Mario looked at her as she was speaking, with an amused expression. Almost laughing, he replied, "That's just something brothers do, Peach. You wouldn't understand."

She wanted to slap him. You shouldn't treat anyone that way. "I can tell he's hurt by it."

"He knows I'm kidding around."

"Yeah, but it still hurts him. I can see it. You need to stop, or..." She shook her head and shrugged. "Or, I'll _make _you stop."

Mario laughed loudly. "You'll _make _me stop? How much do you weigh, like, 50 pounds?"

"Mario, you're a jerk!" She yelled. She kicked him in the shin, but he didn't react, just chuckled at her attempt to inflict pain. "Why can't you treat people like they're people?" She didn't wait even a second to hear his reply. She was gone. She didn't look back until she got to the security of her pink room, under her covers.

* * *

Mario walked home confused. Nobody, especially not Peach, had ever said anything like that to him. He tried not to focus on it, busying himself on worrying whether or not he made any teams he tried out for. He walked into the apartment to find Luigi sitting on the couch, watching T.V. with a bag of chips.

"Hey, what's up?" He kicked his shoes into a corner, flopping into a chair.

"Nothing." He spoke through a mouthful of chips, in a monotone.

"Okay, are you pissed or something?" Mario took the chip bag and ate a few. "You look like a guy who got no action."

"No, I didn't get any _action," _Luigi replied. "I didn't even get through the whole date before Daisy took off. That bitch."

Mario laughed. "Nice!"

"So, I'm happy to be here with my potato chips and my Rocko's Modern Life," he continued, taking the bag back. He was quiet for a few minutes, then said, "I can't believe Daize would do that."

"Yeah, doesn't seem like her." He decided not to tell Weege about what Peach had said to him. It wasn't worth it right then. "Well, I'm off to bed. Seeya."

He nodded, staring at the television. Mario was at the doorway of the bedroom, picking up a pair of pajama pants from the ground, when he heard Luigi speak. "What do you think I did wrong?"

Mario shrugged. "I dunno. Daisy shouldn't have just walked off, though." His mind was still trying to focus on the various things that had happened that day, so he decided to just forget it all and sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**I haven't been on in the _longest _time. I'm so very very sorry. Well, truthfully, I've been on, I just haven't been updating. Nya.  
**

**Just so you guys know, I thought about putting Pauline in this story, but decided against it, since I thought of something better I could do. Which you will find out about in this chapter here.  
**

Mario woke, as usual, with the aid of his alarm. For a few seconds, he still thought it was summer vacation, and swore loudly when he realized it wasn't. "Weege, get up."

They went through their normal morning routine, and eventually arrived at their bus. As soon as Peach saw Mario, she crossed her arms and stared out the window. Luigi sat down next to her as Mario shrugged and took a seat up front.

"Where's Daisy?" Luigi asked, looking around as if he expected her to jump out from behind a bus seat.

"She said she wanted to walk today," Peach replied. "I don't know why."

_I do, _Luigi thought, an unnatural surge of dislike going through him. He shook it off. "So, are you mad at Mario?"

"Yep," Peach said bluntly.

"Well, don't be. He's as thick as a brick wall, but that's not his fault," Luigi said, shrugging. Peach laughed.

* * *

Luigi walked into science class, seeing Daisy sitting in her usual seat behind him. As soon as he walked in the room, she started a rather loud conversation with the girl next to her, until Gadd told everyone to be quiet.

"We'll be pairing up today for a lab activity," Gadd announced. "I'll be choosing the combinations, so don't get too excited."

Gadd circled the room, pointing people to other random people, all the while, Luigi chanted in his head, _not me and Daisy, not me and Daisy, not me and-_

"Luigi, why don't you work with Daisy?" he said, pointing Luigi to her. He sighed and turned around.

There was a great shuffling as everyone moved their seats to sit with their partners, all of which seemed to be boy-girl. (Except for Waluigi, whom Luigi heard angerly say "_You _be the girl," to Lakilester.)

Luigi didn't look directly at Daisy as they began their project, too embarrassed. Daisy seemed to feel the same way.

Luigi finally spoke. "So, how'd you get home last night?"

"Walked."

"Hm."

The rest of the class passed without them saying anything to each other.

* * *

Mario walked into gym feeling confident. He only had this class every other day, so he could fake his way through getting a good grade. He had learned quickly in his freshman year that the fact that this class was gym didn't stop them from giving written tests.

He lined up with the rest of the class as the coach told them to begin relay races. Mario ended up in the last leg of the race against a rather large Koopa he remembered from football tryouts.

A mushroom and a goomba started off rather slowly, and the batons were handed to a koopa and Peach (why hadn't he seen her before now?), who slowed up on purpose to try and make Mario angry.

"Peach, come _on!" _Mario begged, shaking his hands at her in a frantic manner. She smiled and slowed up.

Finally, _finally, _Peach handed him the baton, and Mario ran as quickly as he could, as the large koopa was almost halfway down the track. By some miracle, Mario won.

"Yes!" he shouted. "Sorry, man."

"There's no friggin' way you could have gone that fast!" He ran over and stuck his face much too close to Mario's for his liking. "You're a cheater!"

"Woah, what? Calm the hell down, it's just a school gym class race!"

"Want me to teach you a lesson? I'll meet you today at four o'clock, behind the school! Be there, or I'll find you and drag you there myself!" He grabbed Mario's hat, tearing it clean in half and dropped it at his feet, then left.

After Mario had picked up the pieces of his hat, he noticed Peach standing next to him. She laughed, and said, "Wow, some people take school too seriously."

"Yeah, I know." He looked sadly down at his red cap. "Who was that, anyway?"

"Bowser Koopa. He transferred over from Dark Land." She took the hat from him. "I could probably sew this up tonight, if you'd like."

"Yeah, thanks. Does that mean we're friends again?" He smiled at her hopefully.

She laughed again, tucking the hat remnants in her bag. "Yeah, sure."

The bell rang, and somehow Mario felt he was a bit too happy at Peach not hating him anymore.

* * *

Mario had had to walk home from school that day, since he had made the football team and had to show up for practice. When he got onto the road, he found Daisy.

"Hey, Daize," he said, beginning to walk with her. "So, up with you and Weege?"

Daisy's face turned bright red, and she turned away. "Um, I feel really bad." She was silent for a few more moments, then added, "How is Luigi?"

"Eh, he's fine," Mario replied. "He'll get over it."

They didn't talk for much longer than the two of them normally would. Daisy was still staring at her feet. Mario decided he should break the silence.

"So, how come you got out of school so late?"

"Eh, detention," she said, shrugging as if it were the least of her worries, and then again it probably was. "Mrs. Drowat caught me beating up Charlie Fiennes in the hallway. But let me tell you, he deserved it!"

"Really, now? What did he do?"

"He packed a ham sandwich for lunch. There's no excuse for that!" She was back to laughing. "I'm headed to Peach's, want to come with me?"

"Sure, I've got to pick up my hat anyway." He ran a hand through his hair. It felt weird to be out without his trusted hat.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask where it went. I heard that huge Bowser guy tore it in half 5th period?"

"Yeah, he did!" Mario then launched into a play-by-play of the incident, though adding unnecessary details, and pretty soon they were at Peach's front door. Daisy put her hand on the doorknob, but hesitated for a second.

"Mario...?"

"What?"

"Um... I didn't really have detention." She looked guilty, her cheeks bright red.

"Oh, that's great," Mario said, wondering why she was acting this way.

"I was waiting for you. Um..." She took her hand off the door, and before Mario could say or think anything, her lips met his. Mario was too stunned kiss back, push her away, or do anything, really, so he just stood there until she broke away. When she did, she looked intensely embarrassed.

"I'm sorry! If you don't like me that's fine, it's just that I-"

"That's fine," he said, cutting her off. "Are we dating now?"

Daisy looked stunned. "I don't know. Do you want to?"

"Yeah, only if you do."

"Okay then."

"Mhmm."

* * *

They entered the castle to be welcomed by a happy Peach, who directed them to her pink room. They sat around, talking about nothing in particular.

"Should we call Luigi and invite him over?" Peach asked, laying on her back on her bed, hugging a pink pillow.

Daisy shrugged, then said, "Nah, he's not missing anything."

Oh, Mario had forgotten about Luigi! He'd be furious if he found out Mario and Daisy were dating. What was he going to tell him? "Yeah, he's not." Good thing he had no difficulty lying.

An hour later, Daisy had announced that she was ready to go home. She hugged both of them and left. Mario lingered in Peach's room. "So, do you have my hat?"

"Oh!" She seemed oddly distracted, like she had forgotten he was in the room. "Yeah, right here." She took his hat off from her pink desk. You could barely tell it had been ripped. She went to hand it to him, then hesitated, and started to speak. "Mario..."

"Yeah?"

She frowned and closed her eyes. "Mario, I saw you kissing Daisy before you came in!"

His heart stopped. "What? So?" He tried to brush it off like it was no big deal, but then again, it _was _rather sudden.

"So..." Peach looked around as if trying to find her next words around the room. "So... are you... like, dating now?" She sounded like she would cry, and Mario panicked.

"Uh... well..." He gulped. "Yes."

Quite contrary to the waterworks Mario was expecting, Peach's head snapped up. With utter hate in her eyes, she broke the seams she had stitched on Mario's hat, tearing them all out. She threw the pieces on the ground. "Fix your own damn hat!" She pushed him out of her room and slammed the door.

Mario's mouth was gaping as he struggled for a rebuttal. He settled for a loud, "Oh yeah, well, screw you, Peach!" before leaving.

* * *

When Mario returned home, he found Luigi watching T.V. He looked up and said, "Hey, wasn't your fight with Bowser today?"

"Oh, Dammit."


	4. Chapter 4

**Once again, I've been gone too long. Especially with this story. Some real life stuff's been going, but it's starting to die down, so I can get more involved with this website again. Hooraaaay. **

**Stress with school is at a high point, though, so I can write from experience with this story. Hooraaaay.**

Mario had forgotten his fight with Bowser, but it was clear that Bowser hadn't. As soon as he'd seen Mario, he barked, "Today! Four o'clock!" Mario ignored him, but it was in the back of his mind the rest of the day.

Another thing he'd forgotten until he'd gotten on the bus was that he had a girlfriend. Daisy had given him a huge smile paired with a hug and when he sat down next to her, he saw Luigi give him a weird look. Mario thought about telling him, but decided against it. He knew he'd feel like an asshole either way, and he'd rather be an asshole with a brother who wasn't yet mad at him.

"Hey!" Daisy greeted. She had the biggest smile on her face. Mario was a bit taken aback. She was really this happy to see him? He smiled inwardly.

"Hey, Daiz." He stretched his legs out in front of him, sticking his feet under the heater in front of him. "Did we have Calc homework?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." He smiled. "Can I copy off you? I didn't do it."

"Sure." Daisy took the particular piece of homework from her backpack without question. Again, Mario was a little surprised. Daisy had never before let him cheat off her. Then he remembered they were dating. _Wow, _he thought, _this is gonna take some getting used to._

"Wait, why are you letting him copy off you?" Luigi asked from the seat behind them. He was eying Daisy with suspicion.

Daisy shrugged and didn't say any more on the subject.

* * *

Peach woke up and, for a few seconds she had forgotten the strange anger she held for Mario. She couldn't figure out _why_ she was mad at him. It was so trivial, but when she saw Daisy kissing Mario, her insides boiled. More than that, though, she felt betrayed.

She dressed herself without putting much thought into it. She skipped makeup and hairspray, as well as breakfast. She just wasn't hungry.

When she checked the clock, she realized she was 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Not wanting to wait for the bus, she decided to take the long way and walk to school.

Hoisting her bag up over her shoulder, she took in the scenery. She had unknowingly gone into a rough neighborhood, the one all the aspiring members of the Koopa Troop lived in. She became uneasy. This was the dumbest place she, future princess of their enemy kingdom, could possibly be. But, she could see a safer street just a few steps away. She smiled at her luck, when all of a sudden a tall, wide koopa blocked her path.

"Bowser." Peach tried not to imply that she was too familiar with him.

He gave her a toothy smile. "Hello, princess." He fell into a pace alongside her. Peach grew more and more annoyed. "Where's all your makeup?"

Peach sighed. "Didn't feel like wearing it. Problem with that?"

"'Course not, toots. You just look a little gray."

"Well, I feel a little gray." She didn't know why she told him this. It's not like she always spilled her emotions to Bowser.

"No, I mean your skin actually looks gray without makeup," Bowser clarified, squinting at her.

"Ex-_cuse _me?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, sorry!" He raked a claw through his greasy orange hair. "God, you royalty types are so hard to talk to!"

_"You're _royalty."

"I meant the prissy ones."

Peach crossed her arms, offended. "Don't you have anyone else to annoy?"

"Not really. I just wanted to ask why Mario didn't show up to our little fight yesterday, since you two have a _thing_ going." He said _thing _like it was an abomination.

Peach shook her head. "Nope, we don't."

Bowser's face lit up. "So you're saying you're available?"

"Piss off." She walked faster, and he made no attempt to catch up.

* * *

Mario and Luigi walked, almost ran, to the back of the school to ensure he wouldn't miss the fight again. Luigi fondly called the disagreement _Mario's Doom._

"Face it, he's twice as big as you! He'll crush your head like a _berry!"_ Luigi talked animatedly about the various ways Bowser could kill him. Mario paid him no mind. He knew he would win. Bowser all muscle, and too brainless to be on the football team.

When the brothers arrived, there was a small circle formed around the area in which they would fight. Peach and Daisy were both there. Mario wondered if Peach had come just to watch him get beat up.

Luigi clapped him on the back. "Dibs on your Gameboy."

Mario smiled sarcastically. _"Thank_ you."

"Mario!" Bowser was already shouting. Mario figured he should face him quickly before he exploded.

"Hey," Mario greeted casually.

Bowser didn't reply and, without much warning, Mario felt his fist make contact with his face. He slammed into the ground. There were a few cheers from the crowd. Mario jumped up and glared at Bowser.

"That was cheap!" he yelled.

Bowser laughed. "No rules, dude!" He swung at him again, but Mario blocked and countered. Bowser took a few steps back, but recovered quickly. Then, before Mario could react, there were flames all around him. Mario ducked to the ground, hearing shouts from the spectators, wondering how he'd gotten himself into this. _Shit, _he thought, _Bowser can breathe fire!_

He stood up when the warmth around him left, and was greeted with another punch to the jaw. Mario rolled with it and kicked him between the ribs. He fell backwards onto the ground.

Mario blinked a few times to clear his head, then laughed when he realized Bowser couldn't get up off his shell. He stood over him and hit him square in the nose. "That'll teach you, Koopa!"

* * *

Peach waited until everyone had left. Once she was sure her friends had left, she grabbed Bowser's hand and helped him up. Bowser brushed himself off.

"Which way did he go? I'll _kill _that cheater!" he yelled, looking around wildly.

"Bowser, shut up. He beat you fair and square, you know it." She fished around in her purse and found a package of band-aids. She offered one to Bowser, who pushed them away forcefully.

He slammed his fist on the wall of the school. A few brick pieces crumbled off and fell in the grass. "I am _never _going to live this down."

"Probably not." Peach shoved the box of band-aids into his hands. "Your face is bleeding."

He swiped a hand across his face to wipe any blood off. "There. Why did you stay behind anyway?"

"Just wanted to see if you were okay." Peach shrugged. "You seem fine now. I have to go, my dad's gonna wonder where I am." Peach turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!"

Against her better judgment, Peach turned around.

Bowser scratched his head. "I've been kind of an ass to you lately. So, I just wanted to apologize for that."

She nodded. "Okay. I forgive you." She started to leave again.

"You do?"

Peach stopped, but didn't turn around. _"Yes." _She heard Bowser give a heavy sigh.

"Wow. Thanks. You're really nice."

Peach didn't reply, or even turn around, but as she walked away there was a small smile on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

Peach walked to school again the next day. She tried to convince herself it was because she didn't want to talk to Mario on the bus, but in the back of her mind she knew the real reason was that she wanted to run into Bowser again.

God, why did she want to see him? He was scruffy, her kingdom's enemy, and a mean brute. He'd only ever shown her one moment of kindness. She _hated _him.

"Hey, Princess."

And there he was. Peach felt her heart jump into her throat. "Hi, Bowser."

He laughed. "What, no 'get away from me' or 'leave me alone'?"

Peach smirked, crossing her arms. "I don't mind if you walk with me. It's a public sidewalk."

Bowser raised his eyebrows, eyes widening. He shrugged, falling into step beside her. "Okay, what a surprise."

Peach stopped walking and turned to him. "Let me see your face."

"Huh?"

"Your face was bleeding yesterday. I want to see if it's okay." She looked at the place where blood had been dripping; it had mostly healed. She fished a band-aid out of her bag anyway. "Here."

"Are you kidding me? I'll look like a dork with that on my face!" He pushed her hand away, but not as fiercely as he had the day before.

Peach smiled to herself. "Whatever you say." She looked up. She could see the school in the distance, about two blocks away. "Hey, Bowser?"

"What?"

Peach closed the space between them and, before her brain could catch up to her actions, pressed her lips to his. She felt Bowser recoil, then return the kiss. She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the moment, her first kiss.

She pulled away and smiled at him.

Bowser gave her a blank stare, and a "woah."

Well, that was good enough for her.

* * *

Mario was still celebrating the next day. He and Luigi stood at the bus stop, Mario smiling like an idiot and Luigi smirking.

"I didn't think you could do it, bro. Good job." He clapped a few times, half sarcastically.

"Shows what you know, huh?" He punched him lightly on the arm.

Luigi laughed, but dissolved into seriousness. "Look... I gotta ask you something. Daisy's been acting different. Girlier. And you two have been spending a lot of time together, is there something wrong with her?"

Mario's heart skipped a few beats. "Uh... No, she's fine. Just regular Daisy." He felt like an asshole, but he didn't want to hurt his brother.

"Well, if you say so." The bus pulled up and screeched to a halt.

As he walked onto the bus, a few people cheered, saying things like "Way to go!" and "That was kickass!" He sat down next to Daisy, Luigi behind them.

"Oh my god, you were perfect!" Daisy grabbed his face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. In that moment, Mario could feel Luigi's eyes burning holes in his skull. When Daisy released him, his attention snapped to him.

Luigi looked like a deer caught in headlights. He looked wildly from Mario to Daisy. Daisy looked indifferent, but anxious just below the surface. Mario felt his face burning.

"Wh- wh- why...?" Luigi stuttered. He took a deep breath. "Am I the _only one_ who didn't know about this?" he shouted, angered.

Neither of them answered at first. Then, Daisy said, "Yes. I think so." Her voice sounded small, meek.

Luigi let out a breath he had been holding in. He shook his head and didn't speak for the rest of the bus ride.

* * *

As soon as the bus stopped, he rushed off. He wasn't proud of it, but the second he got into the school, he ran to the bathroom and cried like a girl. As he leaned against the wall of the stall, hoping nobody could hear him, he marveled at how unfair everything was.

Why did Mario get the girl of _Luigi's_ dreams?

Wasn't everything supposed to work out?

What did he do wrong?

* * *

Mario walked proud down the hallway that day. People parted like the red sea when he walked by. He felt like the greatest man in the world.

He felt a prod of regret, though. He had waited too long to tell Luigi about him and Daisy, and now Luigi was angry at him.

But, he could wait to feel bad about that.

He opened his locker and picked up his books. Next to him, he saw Peach, and offhandedly wondered if she was still mad at him. Then, he realized that he had a girlfriend now and didn't really care. "Hey, Princess!"

She glared at him, but Mario could tell she wasn't very angry. "Hey." She leafed through the many folders in her locker, looking as if she were missing something.

"So, what's going on in the world of glitter and pink?"

She slammed the locker door shut. "Why should you care? We're not friends."

He felt a dull thud in his stomach. "Wait, we're not? Since when?"

"Since you decided to slobber all over my best friend." She gave him a "take that" sort of look.

Mario was confused. "What, instead of slobbering all over you?"

Her eyebrows flew up and her cheeks flushed. "Uh- that's not what I-"

Realization dawned on Mario. "Oh my god, you thought we had a thing, didn't you!" When she didn't respond, he stepped closer. She whirled around and stalked off, dropping a few papers behind her. Mario watched her take the hand of Bowser Koopa as he walked by.

_Wait._ He did a double-take. _Bowser?_

The bell for homeroom rang, and Mario watched Bowser give Peach a peck on the cheek. And, rather than slapping him or stomping on his foot, she smiled.

_She smiled?_

His jaw dropped to the floor. _When the hell did this happen?_

Once again, he felt like a jerk when he realized that this is how Luigi must have felt on the bus that morning.

Well, he thought, he might as well go to homeroom before he got a detention. He bent down to pick up the papers Peach had dropped. Science homework, History notes and...

A diary page.

_Oh, crap._

* * *

Luigi sat down heavily next to Waluigi at science class. The latter eyed him with annoyance. "What's wrong with you?" Waluigi asked.

"I just-"

"Never mind, I just realized I don't care."

Luigi sighed. "That's okay, I wasn't expecting you to." He didn't feel like crying anymore, he just felt a numb sense of betrayal. But, then again, when had his brother ever been nice to him?

"Luigi?" He turned around. Daisy was in her usual seat, looking apologetic. "Luigi, can we talk? Please?"

He shrugged. "Class is about to start."

"Weege-"

"Don't call me that." He turned back, deciding to stare at the blackboard instead of the tears welling up in Daisy's eyes.

* * *

_Dear Diary, - _

Ugh. Mario couldn't read this. Peach wasn't talking to him now, so the next step was probably killing him in his sleep.

He spread out the slightly crumpled page on his desk, glancing around to make sure nobody saw what he was looking at. He _couldn't _read it... But the pink stationary, the glittery ink it was written in, the rosy smell coming off of it, it was all so enticing.

_I just won't mention it to anyone. Ever, _he decided.

_Dear Diary,_

_Dear god, what a day. But then again, the first day of school is always exciting. But it usually isn't this bad. Mario can be so insufferable sometimes. But, you know the way I feel about him. It's getting pretty hard to hang out with him, since I feel so bad for Luigi. Just think, he has to _live _with him!_

Mario's eyebrows knotted together. Was he really _that _bad? And that one part, "you know the way I feel about him", did that mean that she secretly hated or loved him? God, women were so confusing.

_Daisy won't stop talking about how tall Luigi has gotten. It's actually gotten a little annoying. Luigi this, Luigi that. But I can't complain to anyone, since she doesn't want anyone to know she likes him. She's actually a little embarrassed._

Oops. It was going to be pretty hard to pretend he didn't know all this. But if Daisy liked Luigi, why did she walk out on him? And did she _still _like him?

_I think I need to talk to Mario. I might sneak out later. How exciting! But I need to be serious. I really want Mario to know that_

The page ended there. He sat back, staring at the piece of paper warily as if it would jump up from the desk and attack him. Well, he really was a jerk, and... What was that word Peach called him? Insufferable. He couldn't believe he had just intruded upon her privacy like that. He felt a bit sick. Peach could never, ever find out about this.

"Hello, Mario?"

Mario jumped backward, almost falling out of his chair. Peach was standing over his desk, staring down at him. "Peach!" he yelled, slamming his elbows onto his desk, trying to cover the diary page, ignoring the tears that came to his eyes when he hit his funny bone. "W-what brings you here?"

She looked suspicious, but not angry. "I... I just wanted to apologize for how angry I got in the hallway. And I was wondering if you caught those papers that fell out of my bag?"

"Oh!" Mario relaxed, relieved. "Yeah, yeah, hold on..." He ducked down, rifling though his own bag to find the papers she had dropped. When he sat back up, holding the papers she needed, his face fell in horror.

She was holding the diary page.

And she looked ready to explode.

"Thought it would be funny, reading my diary?" Her voice shook, her face was red.

"N-no... I-I just-"

The look on her face silenced him. She was frowning, with a look of complete betrayal in her eyes. She shook her head. "I can't believe I was ever your friend."

When Mario wrapped his head around what this statement meant, Peach had gone.


End file.
